Enjoy developing your collagraph plate making and printing techniques. Create collagraphs to make highly textured and embossed imagery. Using this straightforward printmaking technique, you will produce beautifully embossed and richly coloured prints.

On the first evening you will look at examples of collagraph plates and prints and talk about the type of imagery that is suitable for this printmaking technique. You will need to bring a notebook and pencil to this session.

On the first day you will look at selecting and adapting your imagery for collagraph making and prepare card collagraph printing plates (A5 size) using various malleable materials such as textured wallpaper, fabric and threads for linear elements. You will also experiment with cutting into the card surface to create your imagery. You will make a range of marks, tones and textures on your printing plates.

Once these techniques have been explored and plates made, dried and sealed, you are ready to print. You will print from the plates exploring mixing inks, combining colours, hand colouring and using a mixture of intaglio and relief methods of printing.

By the end of the course, you will have explored plate making techniques using a range of materials and mark-making techniques. You will have produced a number of printing plates from which you will have produced your prints. You will have become familiar with the images that are most appropriate for this printmaking technique and will have adapted your images accordingly.

You will have practiced mixing and combining oil based inks and become familiar with different ways of inking collagraph plates and printing them using etching presses.

Arrival Day - this is the first date listed above

Courses start early evening. Residential students to arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 6.45pm.

6.45pm: Welcome, followed by dinner (included).

8 - 9pm: First teaching session, attendance is essential.

Daily timetable

Classes 9.15 - 5pm, lunch is included.

From 6.30pm: Dinner (included for residential students).

Evening working - students may have access to workshops until 9pm, but only with their tutor's permission and provided any health and safety guidelines are observed.

Last day

Classes 9.15am - 3pm, lunch is included.

Residential students are to vacate their rooms by 10am please.

(This timetable is for courses of more than one day in length. The tutor may make slight variations)

Included

• The course fee includes the cost of providing oil based inks in yellow, red, blue black and white, extender, newsprint, shellac, tracing paper, blotting paper, scrim, A5 mountboard, white spirit, PVA glue and some printing paper shared amongst the group.

What students need to bring

• An apron, cotton buds and textured material such as textured wallpaper netting or open weave fabrics or threads of different thicknesses to use as collage materials.
• You will need to bring some kind of inspiration for your imagery. This can either be drawings, photographs, postcards etc. and should be simple, bold images, a good place to look is children’s book illustrations, as these have already been simplified. Please bring actual images, not on a mobile phone or tablet.
• You might wish to bring along a selection of images from which you can choose. You will be working on cardboard printing plates that are A5 size (21cm x 15cm). It would be helpful if you are able to make your images A5 size and black and white prior to the course.
• Craft knife with spare blades for cutting into the card, or a scalpel with number 10a blades.
• Pencil, pencil sharpener, eraser
• Scissors, masking tape,
• Additional printing paper as required, we will be printing on Somerset paper.
• Plastic wallet or folder at least A4 size.
• White tissue paper to transport your prints home.
• Thin, flat bristle brush to apply varnish to your printing plates.
• Long handled flat hog hair paint brushes in a range of sizes, these will be for applying PVA glue to stick your collagraph textures to your printing plate or a plastic glue stick.
• Stencil brushes, in a range of sizes, these are for inking up your printing plates. Also a range of smaller brushes, numbers 4 – 10 might be useful for inking up small areas.

Available to buy

• Available from shop:
• A good variety of art and craft materials including: craft knives, spare blades, scalpels with number 10a blades, pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, scissors, masking tape, Somerset Velvet 300gsm printing paper, A4 plastic wallets/folders, white tissue paper. A good variety of brushes including thin, flat bristle brushes, long handled flat hog hair paint brushes, stencil brushes, smaller brushes, numbers 4 – 10 and plastic glue spreaders.

Additional information

Printmaking is quite a physical process and participants will need to be able bodied enough to safely use presses. Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio. This includes stout covered footwear, i.e. no open-toes or sandals.